Friday, May 28, 2010

Okay, so Megan was curious as to my thoughts on the LOST Finale, so here goes:

I liked it, a lot. To begin, I am not a believer in an afterlife, whether that's a purgatory or heaven or hell - just not what I believe.

But, I was a viewer here, not a writer, so I am okay with it all. And the fact that the Sideways world was a sort of purgatory or holding world for these people to gather together in, well, that was great, I thought.

As Jack's father said, they were all special to each other during the most important time of their lives. It echoed something Jacob said. When Sawyer denied all of the survivors being "alone" in the world, and therefore good candidates, Jacob corrected Sawyer. And he was right. Sawyer, Kate, Jack, Hurley - all of the Oceanic survivors were chosen because they had gotten lost in the world. And together, they found meaning and purpose - helping and loving one another. Like Jack said way back in the beginning: "If we can't learn to live together, we are going to die alone." They learned, and they died together.

As for all the little island secrets and such, I am no big stickler for EVERYTHING being spoon-fed to me. Some questions were answered, the big ones I believe, and some other things were left for us to continue to speculate on. Such as Walt, and what made him "special".

Since we weren't given an answer, I think maybe Walt was a back-up to Desmond. Desmond was the one who sat for years, pushing the button to avert the electro-magnetic kablooie. He was also slowly building up a sort of immunity to the island's electromagnetic properties that came in handy when he was needed to uncork the light from the cavern. Had something happened to Desmond before he was able to do that, maybe Walt would have had to show up and step up to do it.

But, in reality, I think we have to remember this IS a show. The actor who played Walt grew a lot. It could have been explained, since the survivors did jump around through time, that Walt had grown up, but in the end it didn't matter. Desmond did what he needed to do. Walt wasn't really needed, whatever his purpose. Not a big deal. And Walt wasn't in the church, since his time on the island was short, in comparison to the others. Maybe he never found himself "alone", and his afterlife was with the family or friends he made in life.

As for the church, I was at first a bit taken aback by how blatantly Christian it all seemed. But, in retrospect, the church was multi-denominational, and it also was the church where Eloise had her lab underground, where she showed Jack and Ben how to get back to the island and what they needed to do to find it. So, I am better with it now than I was upon first viewing.

One of my favorite parts of the entire finale was the little memory flashback/reunions the characters had.

Sun and Jin being reminded of their true lives upon the viewing of their daughter on the sonogram was great. Loved when Sawyer came in to check on them, Jin's expression at Sawyer being a cop was priceless!

Sayid and Shannon remembering each other once Sayid came to her rescue, right after Hurley said this: "I think you're a good guy, Sayid. I know a lot of people have told you that you're not... Maybe you've heard it so many times that you started believing it. But you can't let other people tell you what you are, dude. You have to decide for yourself."

Kate, Claire and Charlie all snapping back to themselves upon Aaron's SECOND birth. I think it was good that Kate got to remember bringing a life into the world, instead of the killing of her stepfather. Whether that was really baby Aaron or not, it doesn't matter. Claire and Charlie got to be a small family once again.

They were all great, but Sawyer and Juliet coming together at the candy machine I think that was my favorite of them all. They seemed so mismatched and ended up so perfect for each other, I was glad to see them get a final reunion. And the mysterious "It worked." or something that was supposedly words from Juliet after the bomb went off weren't anything more than the words she said when Sawyer unplugged the candy machine and the bar fell. Nice.

Locke didn't wind up with Helen, but I think we are remembering more of the Helen that wasn't real in the Sideways world than the Helen who Locke left behind when he went on the flight. By then, they weren't together. It makes sense that she would have moved on with her life.

And Jack, who took the longest to remember, finally makes peace with everything. His son in the Sideways world was, as other viewers and bloggers have written, his way of making peace with all the unresolved issues he had with his own father. Jack was never able to see the parental view of the situation between him and his father in life, because he had no kids of his own. But here, he was able to do that for a bit and come to terms with it all. And when he finally was reunited with his dad at the end, it was all okay.

So, yeah - I liked the finale. I liked that Hurley became the island's protector, because in a way, he had been the protector of his friends before that. Jack was trying to save their lives, but Hurley was always trying to save their spirit, their joy for living. And that is kind of what the light of the island was all about.

Ben being his "Number Two" was great, as well. Keeps so true to that character and his road to redemption. And also leaves you wondering if maybe, just maybe, Ben has some ulterior motive. I think at the end we see that he didn't, that he was true to his word and was good at helping Hurley, but in the moment, I wondered if Ben was still scheming. I also like that he didn't go into the church, that he wasn't ready. Makes sense that maybe his group of important people involved others, like Rousseau and Alex, Whidmore and Eloise, Richard Alpert, maybe even Daniel and Charlotte and Ethan. And possibly even in the redemption of Michael, whose spirit we saw trapped on the island, due to his murder of Ana Lucia and Libby. Possibly they are all a future group waiting to go, and Ben will be the "Desmond" who helps them all remember and let go.

Others have pointed out lots of little details or question. Who made the statue? What about the hieroglyphics? Why was the light not stumbled upon before? The island, like the Earth itself and life itself, is not always going to give you all the answers. Some things happened before they landed on the island, and it is no one's responsibility to go around giving the new inhabitants all the answers to the past. People were there before the Oceanic crash, and people would be there after. Just life.

Like I said, some stuff not answered, but in a good way, because we get to speculate and talk about it, to think and let it work itself out in our own heads. The characters we cared about during the show got endings and resolutions and that is what should matter.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

It all ends tonight. Not the debate or talk about the show, I think that will go on and on. But the show itself is all over tonight after a two-hour series retrospective/recap and a two-and-a-half hour finale. A lot of time for a show's finale, but this is no ordinary show.

I am looking forward to the finale, more so than some others I have seen as of late. Lost has always been so much bigger than just a show. It was a love it or hate show for most, and for some a love it-then hate it-then love it again show.

I loved it from the beginning, even if I kind of got lost in a sea of confusion somewhere in the middle. The announcement by the creators and ABC that the show had a definite end point was a great idea, and brought back some fans, I think, who were afraid it was going to devolve into a "how long can we stretch this" game. Knowing there was an end and, hopefully, a point to all this made it safe to step back in and finish up this wild ride.

And it paid off, for the show and for the viewers. I have been loving it again like I did back then. The episode a few weeks ago, that ended with Hurley, Kate, Sawyer and Jack stumbling to shore after the submarine sank, was pure Lost magic. It was sad, a major downer, but it also made you still feel like you were part of this little group of people just trying to, somehow, survive together. The faces and reactions of the characters as they realized all they had just lost was almost too much to take.

That has always been what has saved this show from becoming too over-the-top. These characters have been through so much, before and after their island crash, that we feel invested in them and care for what happens to them. We may not like them all, or agree with their decisions, but hey - that's life.

As I am sure every other fan has, I have my own theories on what is going on. But I am not worried that the creators are going to fail to explain every minute detail. I don't need them to. As long as we get some answer as to what is going on, with the island world and the sideways world, and what will become of these people once the final credits roll, I will be okay with it all.

The entire show is not made up of just the finale. Lost has to be viewed as whole, as a journey. Did the creators, writers, actors give us a show to watch and enjoy? Did we laugh, cry, shake our heads or gasp in shock? Hell yeah we did, many times. And that is all I can ask for in a television show. I don't need it to be perfect, and I don't think I would want it to be perfect. I want it to be enjoyable entertainment, and Lost has more than done that for me. Whatever the finale is or isn't, it is not the entire show.

The journey here has been made up of Jack. And Sawyer. And Kate, Hurley, Locke, Charlie, Claire, Aaron, Sayid, Sun, Jin, Michael, Walt, Rose, Bernard, Libby, Juliet, Ana Lucia, Mr. Eko, Shannon, Boone, Lapidus, Desmond, Penny, Daniel, Charlotte, Benjamin and the rest. Jacob and whatever his brother became may be the central good and evil of the show, but all these others we have met are the heart and soul. And while some will be missed more than others, they brought something to the magic that is this show. The polar bear in a tropical setting, the black smoke monster, the trippy trips through time - those are all great "what-the-hell" events. But the characters are what made it work.

While I don't think the creators, writers or actors will see this tiny post, I also want to say thank you, to all of them. It has been a roller-coaster of a ride for six years, and like any coaster, it has had its twists and turns, its ups and downs. It has been thrilling and scary, and I am glad I got on board.

So, I will watch it and enjoy it and probably scratch my head now and then. But I will be entertained and I expect nothing less, or more, from this show.

"What is it? What's the matter?" her mother asked, grabbing Louise by the shoulder.

Louise was in the kitchen, at the top of the cellar stairs, her hand still on the light switch.

Her mother stepped closer and looked at her daughter's face.

"Louise! Why are you crying?" Mother demanded, worry in her voice.

"Mama!" Louise yelled, throwing her arms tightly around her Mother's waist. "Please don't make me go down there! Please! I will do anything else. I'll throw the trash! I'll pull the weeds! But not the cellar!"

Mother patted her back and brushed her hair with her hand.

"Oh Louise." she said, her voice soft. "Don't worry about it. I'll have Father get the suitcase later."

Louise hugged her mother even tighter. "Thank you! I'm sorry, Mama."

"There is nothing to be sorry about, dear." Her mother hugged her back and said. "It takes a courageous person to admit when they are afraid of something. And you are my little brave one."

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Wanted to write a mystery, but that didn't pan out. So instead, here is some thoughts on Murder, She Wrote, my favorite mystery show, and Jessica Fletcher, my favorite detective.

Why do I like Jessica? Well, she is a widowed, retired English teacher who has found a new career as a mystery novelist. She is a homespun type who cares about her friends and family, and even about the strangers she encounters, those who either end up the victims of foul play or the wrongly accused perpetrators of said crimes. Jessica isn't about to let justice fall by the wayside. She will dig until she unearths the true culprit, whether that endears her to the others involved or not. She stands by what is right, whether it is popular or not. Good trait to have. Angela Lansbury created a character beloved by millions.

I also like the small town setting of most of the episodes. Cabot Cove, Maine seems like a great place to live. That is, if you can overlook the unusually high murder rate for such a small place. The characters who helped make up this community included Seth Hazlitt, Jessica's long-time friend and the town doctor. He is always there for her, through good and bad, whether Jessica has listened to his advice or not. And he also makes a good sounding board for some of her ideas and plans.

Also a great character is Sheriff Mort Metzger. He took over the role of the town police chief once Amos Tupper left. Amos always struck me as a bit on the dim side, and I don't think actor Tom Bosely cared to play a character so lacking in his own detective skills. Mort was a more competent sheriff, even if he occasionally needed some help from Mrs. Fletcher.

Another recurring character was Jessica's nephew, Grady Fletcher. He was the nephew of Jessica's late husband, Frank, and the couple had taken him in when he was younger, acting as sort of surrogate parents for him. They never had kids of their own, so Grady was as close as they got. Jessica was always proud of Grady, and supportive, even when he made some less than well-thought-out life decisions. And she was always there to bail him out of the homicidal issues he found himself embroiled in, one of the down-sides to being the nephew of Jessica Fletcher, I suppose.

The setup of the show was usually pretty simple. Jessica would meet a bunch of people, or be around a group of friends, and one of the group would somehow be alienating or down-right pissing off others. Soon enough, the hated one would be dead and it would be up to Jessica to root out the true murderer. In the later seasons, the actual murder would take place so late in the show that the solving of the crime was rushed into the final act or two. I always thought the show fared better when the murder happened earlier, and Jessica had more time to engage in snooping about and digging out the skeletons everyone thought were well hidden.

Also, the later seasons had Jessica rent a second home, an apartment in New York City. This was a bit out of place for the small-town feeling the show was known for, and it was just too different from the little show people had grown to love. But, by that time, the show had been on almost a decade and like anything, had begun to run its course. After twelve seasons of solving murders from one end of the globe to the other, Jessica faded away into the TV Land sunset.

Or did she? Since the show's end, there have been four made-for-TV movies, bringing Jessica back for little trips around the world to do what she does best. These movies followed the usual format, but gave Jessica a little more time to play around, with the two-hour time frame. There hasn't been another movie in quite a few years, so we may have actually seen the last of JB Fletcher, at least played by the great Angela Lansbury.

However, there is one more outlet for those looking for more Murder, She Wrote mysteries. A series of novels, written by 'Jessica Fletcher' and author Donald Bain, bring the character to even more places and into more murders for you to enjoy. Currently, there are almost 36 books in the series, with one scheduled for release next year. I have read a few and have enjoyed each one, the characters and settings kept true to how they were portrayed on television.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

As anyone who visits here may have noticed, there hasn't been anything posted since May 1st, and even that was just an embedded video.

I have been having trouble feeling creative, whether it is just in blogging here or writing in general.

Writing itself is a whole issue, but, in regards to the blog at least, I think I was making this place too ... specific, I guess.

I started this blog back in October of 2008. Here is part of the very first post here:

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(writing about previous blogs)

I wrote a few random things, nothing major, nothing regular. I always thought "why bother" and "what could I post that anyone would want to read?" But, reading a post today from a friend who hit her six-year blog-anniversary, I was shown a reason why I should blog: For myself.

She made a point of saying that she writes to get the stuff out of her head, and that resonated with me. So, I will post what I want, when I want and how I want. I won't ask anyone to read it or comment on it or care about it.

I will at least be getting some flotsam and jetsam out of my head. Maybe I can help my writing, find some ideas for stories, articles - whatever. But it will all be just for me.

Feel free to read, or not. Feel free to share, or not. Enjoy it, or not.

I am going to!

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I obviously drifted away from that, a bit. I became sort of fixated on only posting things I was sure that would be of interest to others, especially things relating to horror films. I never intended for this to be a "horror movie only" site. Nor of any one particular subject, at all.

This was supposed to be randomness. Flotsam and jetsam. As it says above: "What I read, write, watch, listen to or do between hot cups of the good stuff."

Hopefully, I can get back on track and post the weird and wonderful.Hopefully, I will enjoy it once again.In turn, I hope you will enjoy visiting here.